College Football Weekend November 1st, 2008

Boy I'll tell you who has an interesting schedule the rest of the way. Utah. They've got New Mexico this weekend and TCU and BYU left on the schedule. Interesting, that would put them right up there in terms of number of ranked teams played. Sorry this is late, and I didn't have time to write a huge rant at the beginning of the week. But there are a couple of fun games this week to watch and some really good questions. Also I ran out of time to write about all the games I wanted to this week. Also my roommate's cat just threw up on his brand new coffee table. Also (last one I promise) I've been getting these two questions a bunch lately: If Alabama, Texas or Tech, and Penn State all go undefeated who gets leftout ala Auburn from the title game? Any change in your Heisman ballot this week?
Penn State would be the odd man out. They have played all their big games and they end their season 2 weeks before Texas would and 3 weeks before Alabama would. Texas has Kansas 2 weeks from now and then the championship game. Alabama has LSU, Auburn, and then the championship game. So if Alabama somehow goes undefeated (sadly justifying the money spent on scumbag Nick Saban) then it would be them and Texas and the Big 10 loses out on not having championship game.
Heisman:
Colt
D. Johnson Tulsa
Graham Harrell
Kellen Moore (Boise)
Tim Tebow

Comments:
"Has the mass adoption of the Spread, both run and pass versions, made it harder for NFL teams to adequately scout defensive players and figure out how they would translate to the next level? The lack of big D tackles and the lack of games where linebackers are navigating through other players as opposed to playing in space has got to make it difficult. Big time colleges are now recruiting a type of player not necessarily tailored to the NFL game.- Forrest"
Hmm, I actually think that it's made it harder to scout offensive players. I think there will always be a place for big d tackles in college football I don't think they've become harder to scout, it's always been very difficult to figure out how they will pan out. Linebackers are a different story. I think the spread is messing them up because all of a sudden they have to do so much more then a traditional backer. They have to cover receivers and stop the run depending on the play. They also have to play the option. It's got to be really tough to scout those kinds of guys defending against those types of offenses.

"If you were a blue chip recruit coming out of high school this year what would your top 5 schools be and what factors do you consider? In this case you are a QB with a good arm and decent mobility. - Forrest"
Tough to tell because I honestly forget what it was like being an 18 year old kid. What mattered to me then is a little bit of a mystery, I guess if my goal was to go to the NFL then this is how I would proceed:
How good the school was would be a top 5 factor. National exposure would be another factor. The coaches themselves would be important and so would their history of using quarterbacks and how many of those guys went to the next level. The first school that comes to mind is USC, so they would probably be the top of my list. Cal has also had a history of sending QBs to the NFL. UCLA might be on my list because Norm Chow is there now. I might take a look somewhere in the Big 12 just because of how good they are looking now, but not Oklahoma, maybe Missouri or Texas, but probably not texas because they've only had Vince Young. I'd stay away from almost everyone in the ACC and for that matter anyone in the country that runs the spread even though that's where I would excel. I think I would choose USC 1, Cal 2, UCLA 3, LSU 4, Ohio State 5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMl6LaXEqvQ&feature=related - Spike
Wow I hadn't seen that, what a way to end a game, how bad do you think the punter feels about himself after that? It's the last highlight for those that don't feel like watching the others.

"I'd hate to be the rotten apple that spoils the bunch - does your manlove of Elon athletes extend to the golf team as well? Officially I graduated from Elon College, not the new "University," so my mascot will always be Mr. E, the Fightin' Christian. Too bad your prediction didn't come to pass, as mighty Wofford took us out on our home turf. - Ryan"
Of course it does! I'd forgotten that my favorite golf pro went to Elon! My apologies.

"GODDAMMIT MARTIN! It is Thursday morning, I am sick and don't want to be at work. The least you can do is to email out a little wit to let me know the week is almost over. - Peter"
1000 pardons good sir. I got extremely busy at work this week and was actually acting manager for a time, so I wrote this up and then forgot to put the finishing touches on it, like sending it and such. I hope you live to feel better.

Games:
Miami (FL) at Virginia - If the Miami Hurricanes were ranked 18 in the country then there's no possible way they could beat the Virginia Cavaliers. Virgina has beaten the two teams ranked #18 in the last two consecutive weeks. Virginia is led by Sophomore QB Marc Verica who will hopefully be able to focus his team of felons (Virgina's fullback will be facing felony burglary charges), and overcome the team previously known for misdeeds, Miami. Virgina are the new Miami, but only when it comes to getting arrested, not when it comes to winning national championships. Miami on the other hand will have to rely on QB Robert Marve and QB Jacory Harris. Both teams are 5-3 and this game will have a profound impact on which undeserving team from the ACC gets to go to a BCS game. UVA could have a multi game lead going into the last 3 weeks of the season where they will have to beat Wake Forest, Clemson, and Virginia Tech. Good luck Wahoos, may you all not end up in jail, I think you will win a close hard fought ACC (inferior to the rest of the big conferences) game.

#18 Tulsa at Arkansas - This game is compelling just because of what could happen to the BCS bowl picture. The Tulsa Golden Hurricanes come in 8-0 and if I had a Heisman ballot then QB David Johnson would be on it. Incidently one of David's favorite targets is WR Damaris Johnson, I only mention it because it's confusing when you are looking up stats and trying to select the correct player and it's doubly confusing when a Wide Receiver wears a Quarterback's number (#3 in this case). The Arkansas Razorbacks in the meantime haven't been great this year, but they are the only really big team on Tulsa's schedule (they play Marshall for the last game of the year). A Tulsa victory would perhaps warrant their rankings in the top 15 and if they remained undefeated, a berth in a high profile BCS Bowl game. Tulsa has put up unreal numbers the entire season, Arkansas meanwhile has a piece of $hit for a coach (he has questionable ethics and loyalty, he's actually a heck of a coach). This game also won't be on where I live so I'm just going to predict Tulsa wins, and hope for the best, since I can't watch it.

#8 Florida at #6 Georgia - This game could be a lot of fun to watch. I didn't think the Georgia Bulldogs had a very exciting offense till I saw their game last week against LSU in which they put up 52 points and watched RB Knowshon Moreno (spelled it right without looking) run for almost 8 yards a carry. The Georgia defense is also very exciting to watch and they directly accounted for 14 of the 52 points last weekend. The Florida Gators on the other hand, just run one of the most entertaining offenses ever to hit college football. Nobody knows what they are going to do and they also happen to be led by a young man named Tim Tebow. Tim as you might recall won a small award last year called the Heisman, and although I didn't have him in my top five the last couple of weeks, after last week he's in and the Gators are thinking revenge after Georgia's disrespectful end-zone celebration last year. This game will be as fun and entertaining as watching and young Fred Astaire and a young Cary Grant fight each other to the death (I can't really explain why that would be entertaining but just go with it). Being an SEC game you'll see lots of explosive speed and hitting and an ugly bulldog on the sideline. Yes this game will have it all, except a happy ending for Gerogia, who will lose when they get distracted by a clown on the sideline getting hit by an errant Mathew Stafford pass in the head and then dying to a brain aneurysm. Matthew is the QB of the Bulldogs and I don't think he's as good as people say. We'll find out Saturday!

#1 Texas at #7 Texas Tech - The big question in this game is who will come to play defense. These are two hyper productive and amazing offenses and thusfar nobody has really slowed down the Longhorns of Texas, and very few teams have been able to halt The Texas Tech Red Raiders. The young Texas defense should have enough to slow down Texas Tech. Texas QB Colt McCoy had an off game last week and he still completed 84% of his passes in a win against Oklahoma State, he had an amazing first half and a lackluster second half, which would cost him if it happens again. Texas Tech on the other hand has been impressive the last couple of weeks but prior to that they had a string of close calls and wins that snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. The Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell is equally as exciting as Colt, but the TT run game is a bit lackluster compared to what Texas has been able to muster. So I think Texas will roll. Texas Tech has been lucky thusfar and they shouldn't be undefeated. Watch this come back and bite me in the butt when they win. The Big 12 is like the weirdest conference in the country, all of a sudden they all have really prolific spread offenses, it's like the entire league evolved in a completely different direction in all of 2 years. It's actually kind of eerie. Defense was a staple of the Texas national title team a couple years ago but I just don't think most college programs have found a way to defend the spread.